Always a Red Rose
by everyoneisMISunderstood
Summary: When Drew gives May a red rose, she begins to wonder why he always offers her that particular flower. So May decides to be practical and find out what exactly his purpose is in selecting that blossom. After all, it couldn't be out of love... right? CS


**(A/N) Hello :) I hope everyone likes this oneshot, I've been wanting to write this for awhile.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or any of it's characters. I don't own Google or I'd be rich and not writing FanFiction. Any and all flower definitions were taken off this website and I do not own them:**

**http : / www . 800florals . com / care / meaning**** . asp**

"It could have been a little more polished," He told her after the contest was over. For once, he wasn't competing, merely watching his rival-turned-friend. Even though they were on good terms, he was still critical of her because, after all, that was just a part of their confusing relationship.

The brunette turned to him, cobalt blue eyes flashing. "Honestly, Drew—"

He held up a hand and cut her off before half-smiling, "But still, that was a pretty good performance."

She pouted a bit before inquiring, "Would it kill you to ever give me a real compliment?" Of course, she really did mean that, but she covered it up with a sarcastic undertone in her question.

Drew smirked at her and replied, "Obviously. I thought you knew me better than that." May grumbled something under her breath about how irritating he was. He chuckled a bit to himself when he noticed the way she scowled slightly despite the fact that her eyes still seemed to twinkle with a constant happiness.

"What contest are you entering next?"

She thought hard about that. This was her second year in Hoenn so she already knew which towns hosted contests. Currently, she had three ribbons and only needed two more to compete for the Ribbon Cup. Eventually, she responded, "Hm… Maybe Fallarbor."

He nodded. "Me too, but I'll be staying here for awhile." With a thoughtful look on his face, he pulled something out from behind his back and offered it to her. Her eyes widened a bit and she blushed. "Guess I'll see you there."

"Um, yeah…" May sighed as she fingered the flower in her hand. She twisted the red rose between her index finger and thumb, noting that there wasn't a single thorn on the stem. This was good because she'd most likely hurt herself if there was anything to prick her finger on. "Bye, Drew!"

He flicked his hair and told her casually, "Later." When he turned his back, he felt his mouth move into a small smile at the way she still flushed when he passed on the blossom to her. It had been years since he gave her the first one, and she still reacted the same way. Blush, look down, and then she'd stare at him before looking down again and saying goodbye. Oh yeah, he knew her _that_ well.

"Wait!" She called out. She was certain he wouldn't listen to her because Drew had a thing for dramatic and sudden exits after giving her the familiar gift, but to her astonishment, he actually turned back to her.

May had to ask him something. Something she'd been wondering about for a long, _long_ time. As in, she'd been waiting to ask him this particular question for about three years.

She tried to avoid looking him in the eyes. As she aged, she found herself thinking and looking at him differently. And gazing at those pretty green eyes, with a dozen unrecognizable emotions lying in them, it drove her crazy in both good ways and bad. Good in the way that it made her heart beat a little faster, but bad in the sense that it made her lose her train of thought and embarrass herself.

But she couldn't help it. She picked her head up and stared at him, drinking in all those feelings that surrounded her. How could one person be so complex? How did he always manage to make her feel so jumbled up, even if it was only because he looked at her? Slowly, she blinked before averting her gaze and asking quietly, "Why this one?"

"What?" He asked, confusion evident in his voice. He observed the way her cheeks heated and the way she absently kicked the ground. A familiar action, one that indicated she was embarrassed or nervous, or both.

Boldly, she lifted her head and firmly bored into his eyes with her own and asked once more, "Why is it a red rose? You know, every time?"

Drew hadn't been expecting that. He was pretty much ready for anything else, except for that one little question. She was more blind and oblivious and just plain _weird_ if she really didn't know. Honestly, what girl didn't know what a red rose symbolized? "Why don't you contact me when you figure that out?" He asked rhetorically, trying to make her squirm a bit. Plus, he didn't really feel like revealing the way he felt just yet.

And with that, Drew Hayden was on his way. It killed him to not look back and examine her reaction, but May was right. He _did_ enjoy dramatic exits.

May frowned, not liking his answer. She didn't want him to tell her that, but maybe the _way _he told her was enough of a reply. The way he spoke those words, almost vulnerable and tender with forced confidence, was most unlike him.

Like any girl, May had wished a guy would shower her with flowers when she was eight years old. Then again, she also wanted a prince to come sweep her away and make her his princess, but what little girl didn't dream for either of those things?

More importantly, she wanted a guy to give her, not just any flower, but a red rose. On her own, from watching other couples, she'd gathered that red roses symbolized one thing: true love.

But that couldn't be right, because it was evident that Drew knew exactly what he was doing when he bestowed the roses upon her. And Drew? Loving her? Truly? It was ridiculous.

And yet, despite its impossibilities, May wished for that ever since she was thirteen and discovered that she liked him. A lot.

Though much to her dismay, there was just no way he felt that way about her. If he did, he would have done other things to clue her in, like maybe be a tad bit nicer. Or tell her she was pretty or something like that. Drew did _none_ of those things.

Instead, he constantly teased her and never went out of his way to compliment her. And when he did offer her some kind of praise, it was always sort of grudging, like he didn't want to admit she'd done a good job, which hurt, but May soon got used to it. It was just the way he was, not just to her, to everyone. Which proved May wasn't special to him.

_Well, what about the flowers? He doesn't give those to everyone. And he _can_ be really nice on occasion…_ Some little voice in May told her. She shook her head, feeling even more confused.

Nothing added up. May always knew she was slow, so maybe she just had the wrong idea about the roses. She decided to do the logical thing: Google it!

When she realized she hadn't moved from her spot, she groaned. It was almost embarrassing to stay rooted in the same spot just because she was contemplating her boy drama. She started to trudge toward the Pokemon center.

May was still traveling alone and thus, staying by herself. She missed the companionship of being with other people, but she knew Ash and Brock were still with Dawn and she didn't want to just invite herself to go with them again.

When she got to her room, she pulled out her laptop. Google was her homepage, so in the search bar she typed "flowers and meanings". She clicked on a link that seemed to be promising and began scrolling down the long list.

_Wow… who know there'd be so many?_ May thought to herself in wonder.

A few flowers and their corresponding definitions caught her eye. She giggled when she noticed that cactus was on the list, so thinking of Harley, she decided to continue reading. She giggled even more when she discovered the definition: endurance.

_At least Drew didn't give me a yellow carnation…_ "_You Have Disappointed Me, Rejection" doesn't sound good._ She contemplated as she browsed over the list.

A few flowers down, she found one that she thought would be more appropriate for Drew to give her: a chrysanthemum. Apparently, they represented friendship, and that was clearly all Drew felt for her.

However, she hadn't yet stumbled upon the flowers that could possibly prove her wrong. Even though she didn't think he cared about her the way she wanted him to, she couldn't stop herself from hoping.

She couldn't help but think daffodils were a very confusing type of flower. They meant two completely different things. _I mean, what if someone got one and thought the giver didn't love them, but it turned out they really did love the recipient, but the recipient didn't know it and they committed suicide?_ May shook her head at the thought. Death by a flower. Lovely.

Eventually, May grew impatient and skipped down to the _R's_ section. Her heart started pounding as she thought to herself, _This is it._

She almost shut down her computer, afraid of what would be in front of her. Then she set her jaw and told herself to get over it and be brave for once. She wished for an instance she had Ash's rashness, maybe it would make this whole thing easier.

_Coward._ May thought to herself as she realized she had turned away from the computer screen. Slowly, she situated herself so she could read the text.

She just about passed out. She felt lightheaded, and flopped down on her bed, a giddy smile on her face. He couldn't… but he did.

May wouldn't really know, but she couldn't help but think that this joy was even better than any drug-induced high. She felt on top of the world, like she could face anything, be anything, do anything. Even tell Drew she loved him. _Especially_ tell Drew she loved him.

She closed her eyes, a goofy smile still pasted on her face. She kept seeing the words behind her closed eyes flash in front of her.

ROSE (RED) - Love, I Love You

Her mind started to wander, fantasies of her and Drew becoming a real couple, of them getting married, having little green haired children. Maybe she was in shock, and that was why she was acting so silly, but she couldn't help it! She was just so, so, _so_ impossibly happy.

Still grinning, she opened her eyes and turned back to her laptop. She started to giggle in joy as she realized what a thorn less rose meant. Love at first sight. Though that could have completely been a coincidence and Drew just didn't want her to stab herself. It was still a nice thought.

For a minute, she sobered up. But how could she go about telling Drew she loved him too? After all, he was creative enough to give her gorgeous flowers for _years_ and she'd feel kind of like she was taking the easy way out if she just went with the typical "I love you too."

Then the idea dawned on her.

She knew what to look for on the list next, though this time she was looking for a definition. When she found what she needed, she got out of her bed quickly and headed outside her room after grabbing the ribbon.

May walked up to the front desk and smiled at Nurse Joy before asking, "Would you mind if I hooked up my computer to the printer?" When she gave her consent, May practically sprinted to the device she needed.

She printed all the pages that contained the flower definitions. May cut one of the sheets of paper and slipped the smaller piece of paper into her pocket.

When she went outside, she picked a tulip. It was the most vibrant red one she could find, a fragile beauty. She couldn't believe her luck, the one flower she needed just so happened to be right outside where she was staying. She then pulled out a piece of ribbon and threaded it through a hole on the flower meanings sheet and tied it to the flower stem.

She started running, hoping to find him. Drew said he'd be staying in town for awhile, and she prayed she'd be able to track him down. In desperation, she started to ask people if they'd seen Drew Hayden. When one couple told her he'd headed to the park, she was grateful for the first time that Drew was so famous.

May arrived, out of breath at the local park. She stopped for a moment so she could stop breathing so hard, though it was difficult because she was starting to have second thoughts about this whole thing.

What if she was wrong and he was completely clueless about what a red rose meant? Drew, like most guys, was pretty ignorant when it came to things like love, seeing as he tried to charm her by insulting her consistently (though she was beginning to realize maybe that was his was of… flirting with her). What if she completely humiliated herself?

No. She went through all that trouble, and she was going to follow through with her plan. He was in sight, and she stepped out calling, "Drew!"

He recognized the voice of the girl screaming for him. In surprise, he turned around and took in every inch of May; the wide smile, her trademark bandana, and those beautiful eyes. "Yeah?" He asked, calling his Flygon back into its Pokeball.

"Oh… sorry if I interrupted your training." May bit her lip, guilt momentarily thwarting her nervousness.

He shrugged, feeling slightly anxious. He noticed she was tapping her foot on the ground again. And if May was nervous…

Did she know?

She wasn't sure how to go about doing this. Should she just casually mention she looked up the roses? Should she start smiling flirtatiously? Should she run up and hug him?

She gave up thinking about it and took action. Abruptly, she blurted out, "Here," Before thrusting something in front of his face.

His eyebrows lifted as he plucked the tulip from her delicate fingers. Thoughtfully, lifted a hand up to caress the strangely waxy petals. It was a pretty flower, no doubt. But why was she giving this to him?

May was already walking away, purposefully slowly. Drew always left after bestowing her with a flower, so now it was her turn. Her heart thudded against her rib cage, and she was genuinely concerned she might break a rib.

"May…" He said quietly, almost in awe. He'd imagined this a lot more than a guy was supposed to, but the dreams were nothing compared to the real thing.

For a minute, he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. He didn't know if he should act like he usually did and make some snide comment or say something terribly mushy.

Because there, on the paper were the words:

TULIP (RED) - Declaration of Love

She turned around, trying to remain calm as she asked somewhat suavely, "Yes?"

He took long strides over to her, and once again she admired the way he was infinitely more handsome than he had been when the two were younger. When the two were close together, he dropped the tulip and crushed her to him, lips meeting in a way that was rough yet gentle.

And their first kiss of many was perfect. Just a quick brushing of mouths, the way a stereotypical first kiss is supposed to be.

Drew decided to bask in the moment. He wasn't going to go soft on her, and he knew he'd only let himself feel so sentimental once every blue moon, so he wanted to take advantage of the fact that his walls were down, if only temporarily. "Travel with me."

It was almost an order, but when May looked up at his face, she could tell it was hard for him to be so open. "Okay," She said, sounding dazed.

He smiled, and the two embraced in silence. Finally though, Drew had to do something that was in his usual nature. He decided to tease her, "Don't think I'm not going to make fun of you anymore."

She groaned, but in truth, she'd prefer it if things were that way. She didn't want anything about their relationship to change just because they were more aware of the other person's emotions. "Can I say one more thing before you go back to being an egotistical jerk?" She asked, smiling.

He rolled his eyes. "Fine."

Shyly, she clasped his hand in hers as she whispered, "I'm glad it was always a red rose." And with that, she kissed him again.

**(A/N) I'm pretty sure this is the longest oneshot I've ever written, and it was tons of fun to write! I also think this was the fluffiest thing I've ever written…**


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